Art. XXII.—Notice of Motella novæ zealandiæ, n.s.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 6, 1873, Page 107

Art. XXII.—Notice of Motella novæ zealandiæ, n.s. By James Hector, M.D., F.R.S. Pl. XVIII., 76 b. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 16th January, 1874.] P. 17; D. 60–58; A. 44; V. 2/3. Body compressed; snout broad, depressed, equal in length to interorbital distance, with three barbels, two above and one beneath from lower jaw. Gape one third the length of head. Length five times that of the head, and six and a half times the height. First dorsal of minute cirri of equal length; commences at occiput. Second dorsal commences at one third the length from the snout. Post-anal portion of body one fourth longer than pre-anal. Height of dorsal uniform. Teeth in a band on both jaws, with the outer series

strongest in the upper, and the inner series strongest in the lower, and extending to only half the gape. V-shaped patch on vomer. Ventral fin with two first rays simple, second ray produced and equal in length to the head. Caudal rounded, almost continuous with the dorsal and anal. Scales minute, cycloid oblong, width being half the length. No lateral line visible. Colour, in spirit, reddish-brown, uniform, but yellowish beneath. Differs in its proportions and fin-rays from M. pacifica, Schleg. (Günth., IV., 367), and from M. capensis, Kaup, (Exp. Novara, Zool. Theil. Bd., I., 279). Collected by Mr. Robinson, Cape Campbell, in November, 1873. Total length seven inches.